An automobile, such as a passenger sedan, is generally provided with limited trunk space to store items. However, long items, such as lumber or skis, may not fit in the trunk. It is obviously hazardous for such long items to protrude out of an open trunk. Hence it would be useful to provide a pass-through at the rear of the passenger compartment to allow long items to extend from the trunk, through the pass-through, and into the passenger compartment.
However, simply providing a hole within a rear seat assembly may not work for a reclining rear seat. For example, the hole in a rear seat assembly will become misaligned with a corresponding hole in the body wall surrounding the trunk as the seat is reclined, so that the effective cross-sectional area of the pass-through decreases. This may damage long items extending from the trunk through to the passenger area. Hence, it would be advantageous to provide an apparatus providing a pass-through having a constant cross-section even as the seat is reclined.